Buried Deep
by mooneyprongs
Summary: The world was quiet after the Second Wizarding War. Things were finally getting better and the muggles had completely forgotten everything. Everything was getting better. Except when a virus started spreading that affected both muggles and wizards, turning them into the undead. The world is quickly shutting down and the ones still alive are fighting it every step of the way.
1. what will you have left?

**Author's Note: Okay, this is my first time writing anything that's considered horror. Please keep that in mind when you read this and realize how awkwardly written it is. This first chapter is more of an introduction so there will be quite a few flashbacks. I obviously haven't fixed everything that deals with proper grammar so I apologize in advance, I'll be working to fix that. **

**This story will probably be 10 chapters in total, maybe more but not by much. I really do want to keep it short. If you have any questions or really any feed back, you're welcome to tell me. I'd really appreciate it. Enjoy.**

* * *

It wasn't as if Draco Malfoy had asked for any of this to happen. No, never in a million years would he actually want to be trapped in Azkaban with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Weasley. It wasn't only them he was trapped with, though. Pansy and Blaise Zabini had been attached to his hip the moment this whole mess started.

That was a lie. The moment this all had started, at least from what he could remember; he had been with his mother. He had just come back from his yearly trip to Prague and had heard his mother gossiping with one of her friends about some muggle illness that had affected a wizard a week ago. She had gone on to say that not even wizarding medicine could help cure the poor man.

One month. That was all it took for that 'virus' to infect half of the wizarding population and more than half of the muggle population. It was a mess and he honestly had no idea how he managed to stay above it for as long as he did.

His mother however didn't manage as well as he did. She had tried to flee the country, only to find out that the rest of the world was suffering the same fate. He hasn't heard from her since the letter which informed him that she loved him and there was a chance she would never see him again. He assumed her dead.

It was better that way. He really didn't need to be worrying about anyone.

Blaise and Pansy showed up together not even a week later. They didn't bother waiting for him to invite them in.

_"My parents are dead. Blaise's mum hasn't spoken to him in two months. Last thing we heard was that you were holed up here alone. Thought you might need the company." Pansy spoke quickly. "Muggle's are calling this a zombie apocalypse. I have no idea what a zombie is, but apparently it means that people are turning into a decaying mess of their former self and they're basically dead without actually being dead."_

_"Something called a gun is supposed to be useful. I went out and was able to get us a few things. I figure, we can use them if all else fails." Blaise added._

_Draco stared at the two. "What are you even talking about?"_

_"They're invading, Draco. It's only a matter of time before they show up here and start looking for food. And in case you were wondering, the food is you." Pansy said. She got up and looked outside of the window. "I've seen what they can do. It's horrible."_

_"What Pansy is trying to say is that we need your help to survive and you'll need our help. Muggle's have been looting from different shops around the city to make sure they have the means to survive. We haven't been able to do that yet and as far as food goes; magic can only do so much. Pansy and I scouted the area around Diagon Alley and it's a mess. There are undead everywhere. Knockturn is worse off." Blaise sat down, placing his shaking hands on his jittering knees. "I think our best chance is to go to Hogsmeade. It's not completely overrun by the undead, but there are enough there that people are avoiding the place."_

_Draco had to stop himself from laughing. "So you're telling me that you came here to recruit me on your suicide mission?"_

_"Draco, listen to us. You will die here alone. If not by zombies then by starvation. We're offering you help. We're also asking you as your closest friends to help us." Pansy pleaded. _

_He thought about it for a few moments. Sure, if he went, he'd be jumping into a sea of the undead with barely even an understanding of how to make them … well, for lack of a better word; dead. But, they were right. Pansy and Blaise were his closest friends and how could he possibly allow them to go off on their own? It also didn't hurt that by going, he'd be finding a means of surviving. "Okay."_

_"Great."_

They were able to get enough food for the three of them to last them the two months they had stayed at the manor. Pansy and Blaise had been right when they said that the undead would eventually find their way to that part of the country.

They fled. They had no choice. Draco had recommended that they stay at his parent's cabin until they could think of another way to get food.

It was on that very mission to get food that they had bumped into the other trio.

_"I think there's someone in here. Guns at the ready. Pansy get behind me." Blaise said in a hushed tone. Draco could hear the rummaging from behind the employee's only door. _

_"Wouldn't it be smart just to go into another shop?" Draco tried to reason. Of course, once Blaise had something in his head, there was no changing his mind. _

_"It's nothing we can't handle, Malfoy." He aimed his gun toward the door and took a step closer. Pansy followed him without saying a word and Draco sighed in defeat. One of these days, these two were going to get him killed. _

_Blaise slowly pushed open the door. The door flew open, though. On the other side of the doorway stood Ron Weasley, holding out his wand. "Put down the guns."_

_"Forget it, Weasley. Put down your wand." Blaise countered. _

_Neither wizard budged. _

_"Ron? Where are you?" Of course. Draco should have known that she would be here with him. They were pretty much inseparable, which also meant that Potter would have to be around here somewhere. Hermione Granger came into their line of vision, letting a little squeal of surprise when she noticed them. "What are you doing with **guns**?" _

_"It's a lot easier to aim a bullet into the head of the undead then to shoot a spell and hope it stops them. Wands are a last resort." Blaise said. "Now if you want us to lower our guns, I suggest you lower your wand."_

_When Ron still didn't budge, Granger put her hand on his and forced him to lower his wand. Blaise immediately lowered the weapon and put the safety on. Draco and Pansy followed his action. Granger grinned. "Now that that's settled, why don't you help us look for things either of us might need."_

_"Hermione, you can't possibly be serious? We were here first. There is no way they should be allowed to take anything that we might need." Ron looked at her incredulously._

_"I'm completely serious, Ronald. How would you be able to live with yourself if you knew that they died because we were greedy?" _

_Ron scoffed and muttered. "I could think of a few ways." _

_He was met with a hard glare from both Pansy and Granger. Pansy spoke. "Look, Weasley. We're only trying to survive like you lot. Help us or not, that's up to you, but I'd think you'd prefer to stay on the right side of karma today."_

_Granger ignored what Pansy said. "Follow me. Harry is going through the storage room. It was completely locked so the muggles had no way of entering. There might be something that you need."_

_Much to Ron's annoyance, they followed Granger. The place was pretty much a maze. Draco didn't understand how there could be so much space for such a small store. Either way, most of the shelves had been predictably emptied. _

_When they finally reached the storage room, Ron walked in, leaving Granger with the trio. "How long have you been together?" _

_"Almost three months." Blaise answered quickly. "Would it be safe for us to go in or should we stay out here?"_

_Granger seemed to think for a second. "Maybe one of you should go in for now. Leave the guns out here. You have your wands, correct?"_

_"We do. Blaise, maybe you should be the one to go in. I know for a fact that they'd be a lot nicer to you than to either of us." Pansy said. "You can leave your guns with Malfoy. I'm going to be at the end of the corridor as a look out." _

_After Blaise disarmed himself completely, he walked into the room. Pansy was already settled in at the end of the slim walk way, gun pointed at the only available entrance. _

_Draco didn't know what to do or really, what to say. He hadn't spoken to Granger in years. She looked at him wearily, but decided it would be a lot less awkward if they made conversation. "How have you been holding up?"_

_He stared at her before answering. "Fine. We had stayed at the manor until we couldn't anymore. We already have another place to hide away, but there would be no means of surviving." _

_"So, you have no idea how the rest of the world is faring?" She said. _

_"Not so much. We know that London and almost all of the UK is overrun, but that's as far as it all goes. Well, that and the fact that this is a world epidemic." Draco muttered, remembering his mother. He really did try to not think of her. _

_"Do you know if anyone other than you three that might have survived?" She was trying to soak him of anything he might know. Of course, he really didn't have any information to give._

_"No, not really. We made it a point to avoid going into any public place. I've gotten letters from people, begging for help. As if money was something that could save them. But, those letters stopped about a month after Pansy and Blaise showed up." Draco shifted on his feet. He hadn't thought about the letters in a long time. He had pushed it to the back of his mind. What help could he have offered these people anyway?_

_"Letters. I remember Harry had got some, too. That much was expected, but we were forced to leave so quickly that we never got a chance to answer any of them." Granger frowned. _

_"Forced?" _

_Granger looked at him. "Yes, forced. We were visiting Ron's family before any of this really started. We knew that people were sick, but it was left at that. Then we heard on the radio that there were reportings of a mass outbreak. They told us to stay indoors and so we did. We had plenty of food, but that didn't really matter."_

_She stopped. Draco noticed that her eyes had glazed over and tears were threatening to spill out. Before he could say anything, she continued. "Arthur, Ron's dad, had been sick. Mrs. Weasley had hoped it was a random bug and had been giving him potions to keep him from getting sick. Of course, if you're aware with how the virus works, it didn't work. He only got sicker and sicker. One night, we heard a blood curling scream."_

_"Hermione…" She looked behind her to find Ron looking at her in disbelief. _

_"Ron, oh merlin, I'm so sorry." Granger said quickly. _

_"You had no right to tell **him** that." Ron said softly, as if he really didn't want to be getting mad at her._

_"I know, I'm sorry." She took Ron's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "Has Harry found anything useful?"_

_Ron's facial expression relaxed significantly. "It's the holy grail, 'Mione. You should see it. It has everything we might need. Well, not everything, but a lot."_

_"Is there weapons?" Draco said, which apparently hadn't been the right thing to do. Weasley sent a sharp look toward him. _

_"I think you lot have a lot more weapons than necessary." He said. "Besides, there are no weapons other than knives used for camping. Doubt they'd do any better than a wand."_

_"I would take some if I were you, Weasley. You never know what could happen and a knife is still a weapon that could kill the undead." Draco said, pulling out knife. "The bigger; the better. We're in an apocalypse and it'd do to remember that the enemy will stop at nothing to kill you. They don't care who we are or who we used to be. We're simply food or a way of evolving and spreading."_

_Hermione turned back to Ron. "Pack them just in case. He's right. We can't be too safe." _

_Begrudgingly, Weasley walked back into the room. _

_The atmosphere between the remaining two wizards was awkward at the very least. Granger had made it a point to keep her mouth shut this time, lest something personal came out._

_"I don't know what happened to my mum. She's probably dead by now." This surprised them both. Sure, the silence had been bothering Draco, but it didn't mean that he had to be giving out his life story. Especially to someone who could care less about him and his fate. _

_Which wasn't true, he had to remind himself. If she didn't care, she would have sent him and the Zabini's packing. Or maybe it was because they had weapons and weren't afraid to use them. Or because the war wasn't them against him for once and why should either of them die now. Either way, it didn't change the fact that he was sharing this information with someone who wouldn't lose sleep over him and his demise. _

_"You don't know if she is or isn't?" She said. There was a genuine interest in her voice, but that could be for the pure fact that he was probably the first person she had really had a conversation with besides Potter and Weasley since this whole thing started._

_"She left before the virus truly spread. She thought she could escape it. Find someplace safe, a place where her money could get her a suitable place to survive. Her last letter made it seem like she wasn't going to see me again. I think it's better to think her dead. It'd be easier for her that way. This world isn't a place for people like us anymore." Draco noticed that Granger was wearing a deep frown._

_"I haven't heard from my parents. I tried going to them when everything first started, but they were out of the country. Had gone to visit family in Ireland." Now he understood. Unlike himself, Granger had been very close to her family. Or at least that's what he had read in the Prophet. She would let not knowing what happened to them affect her. "They had no way of reaching me, I suppose. They didn't own an owl and I didn't have a phone."_

_"It must be tough." Malfoy tried to comfort her, but it fell short._

_"You must know." She said._

_"I've accepted my mother's death already. Whether she's alive or not, there is a big chance that I won't see her again. I've made my peace." He said solemnly. _

_"Do you not have any faith in there being a cure?" _

_This interested Draco significantly. He had thought that maybe someone was working on a cure, but usually whenever the thought arose, he quickly shut it down. There was no need to have a false hope in a zombie-less future. "Have you heard of there being a cure?"_

_"In passing, but never outright. I usually don't go on missions with Harry and Ron unless they scout the area first." Granger explained. "Harry once said that they saw a group of military men looking for certain ingredients in Knockturn Alley. They had basically eradicated the zombies that were there to find whatever it was they were looking for. He said that they mentioned something about a cure."_

_This was all definitely news to Draco. He had never expected the government to be running; muggle and magic, alike. He always assumed that it was every man for themselves, but he supposed that it still was. The government would keep themselves safe until they could ensure a cure. "That's... something."_

_"I didn't know how to feel about it, when Harry first told me." She admitted. "I had forced myself into thinking that this was my life now, but now things are different. There might be a cure."_

_"Might is the keyword, isn't it?" Draco muttered. _

_Granger seemed to think some more over this. She was about to reply when Pansy started firing. "MALFOY, GET BLAISE AND THE REST OF THEM OVER HERE NOW."_

_Draco exchanged a panicked look with Granger before letting her walk into storage room to get the others. He ran over to Pansy to see her desperately trying to reload her gun. He pointed his rifle at the nearest zombie and shot him in the middle of the forehead. _

_With every shot in a new zombie's head, they moved closer to the storefront. This was extremely problematic considering the place was a maze of shelves. A screeching came from his left and he turned just in time to see Granger shoot a spell at it that made it drop to the ground. He'd have to ask her about it the moment they were out of this mess._

_They continued moving forward, this time making sure that each of their sides was covered. An assortment of spells and bullets were being fired every time a zombie showed its ugly face. _

_This was something everyone seemed to be used to. Murder. Though one could reason that it wasn't considered murder if the ones being killed were already dead. _

_The undead were filtering in through an open door. Draco had been positive that he had closed the door behind him. He always did. Even before the virus._

_But that didn't explain how the door was wide open. _

_The thing he had noticed about zombies on his occasional excursions was that they didn't make the effort if they didn't think there would be reward. Noises and movements were signs of those rewards. _

_They must have been making too much noise. Or… _

_That's when they noticed him. The little boy underneath the counter. He couldn't tell if he was dead or not, but he wasn't moving. _

_Pansy and Blaise were still shooting the remaining zombies while Potter went to lock the door up. There were still zombies outside, but they were still a few yards away. _

_"Kill them with your wands from now on. Less noise." Granger finally spoke. "We don't want to attract the others. Malfoy, get the boy and let's go back to the storage room. We can find out if he's alive or bitten in there and make the necessary calls."_

_They all did as they were told. The second door to the back area was closed and locked right before the undead started banging on the store windows. They'd have to be especially quiet from now on._

_They walked back toward the storage room and locked themselves in as an extra precaution. Draco set the little boy down on the ground, while Weasley went around and started lighting electronic lamps. _

_Granger was already near the boy, checking to see if he was breathing. "He's alive. He might have passed out do to shock." _

_"Merlin, what was he doing out here alone to begin with?" Blaise said._

_Granger frowned but it was Harry who spoke. "We've seen this before. Parents die and groups will take the children in until they think of them as a burden. They'll send the child into a zombie zone and if the child survives, then they're welcome to stay because they can fend for themselves." _

_"That's barbaric." Pansy said, wide eyed. _

_"It is." Potter agreed. "Unfortunately, muggles and wizards both have taken the stance of survival of the fittest." _

_Draco found that he could understand. They were in a world were you couldn't afford to be carrying around a constant distraction. Nonetheless, it was disgusting to know that they would send a child alone into an infected area. _

_The boy would have never stood the chance. _

_Draco glanced back down at the boy and at Granger, who was checking to see if the boy had any scratches or bites. She sighed in relief. "He's clean." _

_Potter glanced at the two wearily. "Are you positive?" _

_"You can look for yourself, if you'd like." Granger got up. "I think he hid before they all burst in. The first one must have missed him and the rest must have followed him. Then the noise of the gun must have called the others. Lucky." _

_Potter did give the boy a second look. We couldn't afford not to. "You're right." _

_"Usually is." Ron said. _

_"I think we should discuss what's going to happen after this." Granger was now fiddling with her wand and sparing glances at Potter and Weasley. _

_"What do you mean?" Potter asked._

_"I mean, wouldn't it be easier if we stayed in a group? Especially now that we have to deal with the child." She said, her voice getting stronger. _

_"Wait a second. We can't afford to care for a child and we have no idea how the boy will even react when he awakens." They all turned to Blaise. "Secondly, I'm sure half of us would disagree to a merger." _

_"Obviously, but that's only because of childhood feuds. We can't think like that anymore. We're living in a completely different world now. No one cares about Death Eaters or who The Chosen One is. No one cares about blood status, as long as it's free of the virus. These are things we have to get over." Granger did have a point, Draco thought. He certainly didn't give a shit about anything other than keeping him and his friends alive. "You all have to admit that we'd be stronger as a group. More eyes and more wands." _

_Weasley looked at Potter, who was looking a bit distraught. Blaise turned to his wife. "She's right." _

_Pansy nodded. "I know she is."_

_"If it means that we have a better shot at surviving, I'm in." Draco said. _

_Granger then turned to her friends. They had been whispering between each other, but stopped whenever they noticed everyone staring at them. Potter sighed. "We don't really have much of a choice and I suppose it would help to have a larger group."_

_"But what about the boy?" Weasley voiced the one concern that was on everybody's mind._

_"He'll have to stay with us. We can't just leave him here alone. He'll die in less than a day." Granger said. "We can't even find the people that sent him here to begin with. They'll just risk his life again. At least with us, he'll have a chance." _

_"None of us know how to take care of a child, Hermione." Blaise looked down at the little boy. "We may put him in danger."_

_"Not as much as he'd be in if he didn't have us." She countered._

_"What about food supply?" Pansy asked._

_"We can make a few more rounds and then find a place to settle in. We'll make do with what we can get." _

So, they now had been in charge of a ten year old kid, too. He had definitely been scared at first, but he seemed to catch on to what had been done to him. Granger took it upon herself to take care of the kid, Oliver.

They were all sitting in different abandoned cells that they were using as sleeping quarters. The magical wards that had surrounded Azkaban had been taken down the moment the apocalypse started. It would take too much to keep them up.

Prisoners hadn't been able to leave either way. Without any magic, they had been trapped on the island to wait out the virus. Of course, without anyone to offer any food, they went crazy. Well, crazier than they had originally been.

They started attacking each other, killing the weaker prisoners for food. It simply wasn't enough, though. They started attacking the bigger, smarter prisoners in their sleep.

Unfortunately for them, one the prisoners had a dormant form of the virus. The remaining lot had slowly begun to deteriorate.

In any case, it hadn't really mattered what had happened to the prisoners in Azkaban. They didn't think they'd ever really think about it ever again. That was until the zombies had reached the cabin and they had to act fast.

Granger had said they should go back to Malfoy's manor, but they quickly shut that down. It was a large place that was probably overrun with the undead by now.

_"Then what do you suppose we do?" She said, looking out of the window. They had set up wards around the cabin, but that was only going to last so long. Their magic hadn't been what it was since they weren't eating enough and they were entirely too tired. _

_"There are apartments in London. Maybe we can hide out there." Weasley suggested. _

_"Good luck trying to even make it to London without a scratch or a bite." Blaise muttered. _

_Something sparked in Draco. "What about Azkaban?"_

_They were all looking at him now. He had known that it was a long shot, but if they were lucky enough the virus wouldn't have reached the prison and the prisoners would have killed each other off._

_Potter went to say something, but Granger cut him off. "What do we know about Azkaban after the virus spread?"_

_"Well, before my mother left the country, she was a very nosey person who loved to gossip. She had heard through someone in the Ministry that they were starting to evacuate the staff from the prison." He said. "I don't think there are any wards to prevent us from going there. The only thing we'd have to worry about is the prisoners."_

_"Which is probably the thing that terrifies me the most." Granger admitted. "These are the worst of the wizarding world. Even if they haven't been affected by the virus, we'd be risking a lot going there."_

_"But if they'd started killing each other off then we might actually have a chance. If they're zombies, well then we dispose of them. There shouldn't be that many in the prison to begin with." After the war, Azkaban had changed as a prison. There were no more Dementors roaming around and sucking out people's souls. Instead, they hired wizards that would guard and make sure the prisoners were kept alive. Apparently, this is how the muggles handled their criminals. _

_The one thing that drastically changed was the implementing of the death penalty. Whereas they had the Dementor's kiss before, now they were simply choosing to end the wizard's life. No more keeping a soulless, mentally insane wizard in a cell when they could simply use it to house a lesser criminal. _

_Of course, this all hit Draco rather close to home. His father had done a lot of unforgiveable things during the first and second wizarding wars. Unlike his wife and son, he hadn't been able to receive a pardon. He wouldn't have taken it even if it was offered. _

_The decision was probably best in the long run, all things considered. It still hurt to think about it, though. He may not have been the best father, but he was his father nonetheless. _

_"Okay so let's say that the virus did hit them. How do we go about getting rid of them?" Weasley replied. _

_"The same way we've been getting rid of them. That spell of yours would probably be the best way to go about it, though. If we use bullets, it will make too much noise. There will be too many for us to take on at once. Unless…" Draco started thinking. Maybe centralizing them would be the best way to go about it. _

_"Unless what, Malfoy?" Potter said uneasily._

_"Unless we trap them all at once. We could localize them and pick them off from a distance." He started out slowly. "Say we get them in a common area, we set off an explosive and wait for them to come. Then we can kill them all or at least most of them."_

_"Why go through all that trouble?" Pansy said. _

_"Because once we make the place safe, we'll be safe. The undead can't swim or use boats on their own. The only way they'd be able to make it on the island would be if someone purposefully brought them." He informed._

_"Makes enough sense." Granger said. "How are we going to get on the island?"_

_"That would be the tricky part." He smiled a bit. "We'll need to find brooms."_

_"No. No brooms." Granger blanched._

_"Granger, we're in an apocalypse where at any moment we could become zombie food and you're telling me that you're scared of brooms?" He could almost laugh, but he didn't. _

_"Well, I've survived this far. I don't need to meet my death because I fell off a broom." _

_"To avoid that situation we'll ride in pairs. Granger and Weasley will take one. Potter will take Oliver. Pansy and Blaise will take another. We'll need to find four in general." He got up. "I'm pretty sure that Diagon Alley is infested so I'd rather avoid that if we can. Do any of you know how Hogwarts has fared?"_

_"You want to go to Hogwarts, too?" Weasley scoffed. "Why don't you just kill us now and get it over with?"_

_"Shut up, Weasley." Pansy rolled her eyes._

_"Hogwarts was breached the last time I heard." Granger said. "We could Apparate just outside of the Quidditch pitch. There should be some brooms inside the storage shed."_

_"Okay, after we secure the brooms, we have to come back here so we can pack up whatever supplies we have left." Draco instructed. "When we make sure that we have everything, we'll also have to organize a mission to find more food."_

_"Do you think there might be food storages in Azkaban?" Potter asked._

_"Maybe. If there are, then they must have been hidden from the prisoners." Blaise said before Draco could. _

_"Then I guess we have no choice, but to try it out."_

* * *

_Hogwarts had been the easiest part of the mission, it would seem. They literally were in and out in less than ten minutes. It took everything out of Potter and Weasley to convince Granger not to go into the school to scavenge for things that could be useful, though. She was relatively unhappy. _

_They had managed to put away all of their possessions and food quickly thanks to the help of Granger putting a spell on a few of their backpacks to help make room for everything. She even managed to shrink their mattresses and put them in Blaise's bag. _

_They had just landed on the top of one of Azkaban's three towers. Pansy looked around wearily. "Okay, this might be a little harder than we expected."_

_"Don't worry. It's bigger on the outside." Harry said. "The prisoners really would only be able to access the bottom three floors. They'd need magic to unlock the top three. If anything, that's where the supplies would be."_

_"Mione?" Everyone looked down to Oliver, who was pretty much glued to Granger's side. "What's going to happen?"_

_"We're going to get rid of the zombies here so we have a place to stay." She said calmly. Oliver nodded, figuring that it'd be best if he didn't ask any more questions._

_"So now we really need to think about what our distraction is going to be." Weasley muttered._

_"I'm thinking one of us should go down there and make sure the iron doors are open. If they aren't, open them and quickly come back. That will be enough to catch at least some of their attention. Then we'll explode some rocks to get the other's attention. This time we kill with the guns and wands. The more noise there is the better chance we have at killing them all at once." Draco said. "Once we're able to kill them all, we'll fly into the building. Stay on your brooms. It'll be the best way to keep us all safe."_

_Potter nodded and mounted his broom. "I'll be right back."_

_Before Weasley could protest, which it was only Weasley who had a problem with Harry being the one to open the doors, Potter flew down. There was a loud crash where they could only assume that the gate flew down. _

_Potter was back on the tower before anyone could look down to see what was happening. "The door wasn't budging. I had to use an explosion."_

_No one seemed to have been listening to a single word he said, though. Instead, they were playing close attention to the group of zombies streaming out of the prison. Each of them looking for the cause of such a large noise._

_"Okay, since Potter already caused that explosion with the door, it should have brought most of them out. We'll start picking them off and when they're all dead, we'll go down there and see what's left." Draco turned to them. "If it's too far up for us to get a clear look-"_

_"We should blow them up." Weasley spoke up. "Save you… whatever it's called and we'll wipe them out as quickly as possible."_

_"You want to blow them up?" Granger said._

_"As great as that idea sounds, Weasley, do you really want to risk them not fully dying?" Blaise said, uneasily._

_"It would slow them down, drag out the others and then we'd be able to go down there and finish them off." He said. Draco was impressed and annoyed at himself for not of thinking of that sooner. _

_"We'll do that." _

_And they did. They were able to kill most of the zombies outside of the prison with minimal usage of their weapons. The inside of the prison was eerily quiet. You could hear the groaning and shuffling of the occasional zombie, but other than that it was too quiet. _

_"There are still some alive, we have to go find them." Potter whispered._

_"Yeah, eventually." Draco said. "For now, we make our way up. We kill whatever we see and we find a place that we're going to settle into. Preferably at the top of the prison."_

_"What if we need to escape?" Granger asked._

_"We have our brooms. We'll just have to find a way with that." He replied. "Don't forget that we are never safe and that at any moment something could come and kill you." _

_She nodded her head and held on closer to Weasley. _

_"Alright, Potter you seem to know more about Azkaban than any of us. I'm assuming you've been here when they made all the changes?" Potter nodded. "Then you'll lead the way."_

* * *

_"I want to sleep for ages." Granger said as she stepped off of Weasley's broom._

_"Once we have everything settled in, we can." Potter followed suit, making sure that Oliver was safely off the broom. The little boy ran directly into Granger's arms. _

_"It's okay, Oliver. We're okay for now." She ran her fingers through his hair._

_"Okay, Pansy and Blaise, go through the bags and bring out the beds. I'll go through my bag and see what food we'll eat for tonight." Draco said. _

_"We'll be okay." Granger repeated, only this time he was sure it wasn't for Oliver._

"Malfoy, are you okay?" Draco snapped out of his thoughts and noticed that Granger was standing outside of his cell with food. "You've been staring into space for the past thirty minutes."

"Have I?" He didn't know what was going on.

"You were. Oliver had come in to talk to you and said you were really freaking him out." She walked into the cell and handed him the peanut butter sandwich.

"I was just thinking." He said, taking the sandwich.

"There's a lot of that going around lately." Granger muttered, looking down towards her hand. "Who would have thought that I'd hate actually thinking?"

"When death is all you have to think about, I understand the feeling." He tried to crack a smile, but it fell short. "I just never really thought that this is where our lives would lead us. We're literally in Azkaban to keep _safe_."

"Irony at it's finest." Her laugh was something that was rare and it somehow had started to affect Draco in ways that didn't exactly make sense to him. Sure, he didn't give a shit about anything other than all of them surviving. He didn't care about blood superiority or what their damn houses in Hogwarts were. But, he really couldn't afford to feel anything at this point.

Of course, it would only make sense for him to start having feelings for the woman. She was the only female in their group that wasn't married and she definitely wasn't dating Weasley like he had first assumed.

It still wasn't good for the feelings to be there and so he would ignore them. Blame them on insanity or hunger and leave it at that. "Do you think there will ever be a way for things to fix themselves?"

"You mean for them to go back to the way things were?" She asked.

"No. Things won't ever be the same." He sighed. "I mean, will there ever be a cure for the virus? Do you think there are people even working on it anymore?"

"I don't know."

"That's the problem. I don't know, either. Not sure I know anything other than staying alive at this point." He shrugged and focused back on his food. It didn't look appetizing anymore.

"That's pretty much the default setting nowadays."


	2. something called hope

**_Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, therefor I do NOT own Harry Potter or anything in his world. _**

**_Hope you enjoy! Author's note at the bottom!_**

* * *

Everyday there was a fight. Without fail, someone would do something to piss someone else off and then there would be an hour long argument. Today it seemed to be Granger and Weasley. Draco didn't know what the fight was about, but it was getting on his last nerve.

It wasn't as if he had the energy to do anything to stop it, though, so he'd let them fight until one of them realized how stupid and completely draining it all was. They did have more important things to worry about, after all.

"How dare you even consider it!?" Hermione shrilled, causing a shiver to go down Draco's back.

"I was only saying that he should learn!" The voices were coming closer to his cell.

"I won't allow it!"

"You aren't his mother!" Draco frowned when he saw the pair walk into his space. "Malfoy, I can count on you to be sane enough to agree that Oliver should learn how to protect himself, right?"

Before he got a chance to answer the question, Hermione glared at Weasley. "Don't sugarcoat it, Ronald. You want him to learn how to _kill_."

"How else is he going to protect himself? We can't always be there to save his ass!"

"We're safe here." She muttered and it was painfully obvious what she was actually upset about. Weasley didn't seem to catch on.

"Actually, Granger, we can't always rely on that." Her glare turned and fixed straight on Draco.

"We can." She spit out. "We've been living here just fine and with minimal problems."

"And what happens when we need food?" Ron added.

"You, Harry, Draco and Blaise are perfectly capable of going out on food runs without a child tagging along! Even Pansy and I can go." Hermione looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I don't see the point in forcing him to learn how to be a killer."

"We aren't forcing him, Hermione. He asked us to teach him."

The brown haired witch's eyes grew almost impossibly wide. "Why on earth would he want to learn how to _kill_? He's been through enough as it is."

"Don't you think that's why he wants to learn?" Weasley countered. Draco refrained from rolling his eyes. Why would they bring their argument in here if they were only going to fight between each other? "We've all been through a lot, Hermione, but we all know how to survive. The kid doesn't."

"He doesn't need to."

"Granger, get a grip will you? I personally think the boy should learn how to protect himself. We won't go shoving him into dangers and whatnot, but what's the harm in the boy knowing how to save his own ass?" Draco said, hoping it'd put a stop to the incessant arguing. Hermione moved to argue back, but he held a hand up to silence her. "You're smarter than this. We all know that the more people who can kill a zombie would mean that we'd have a better chance at surviving this."

"Great, now that it's all settled, I'll go and talk to Harry about training." Ron quickly left the cell before Hermione had any chance of speaking her mind.

Draco knew exactly what would happen now. He knew that either Granger would rip him a new asshole or she'd go about ignoring him for the next few days. She was staring straight at him, thinking about what she would do.

"He's just a child." She whispered.

"He can't afford to be one anymore." The pained look on her face meant that she knew he was right. "We've all been through hell and back, Granger. We've all seen things that no one of any age should see and we've all become to accustom to the loss of life."

"It shouldn't have to be that way."

"No, but it is anyway and you'll just have to get used to it." Draco shrugged. He closed his eyes hoping that she'd get the picture to just drop the conversation for the day. He hadn't eaten anything but a slice of bread and an apple, so his energy was running low.

Hermione sighed and sat down on the other side of the cell. Draco opened an eye, wondering what the hell she was doing. "Granger, I'm too tired to continue talking."

"Then don't talk." She closed her eyes and rested her head against the cement wall.

He really was too tired to argue with her.

* * *

_"Hermione, we've got to go!" Ron hissed. She tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but they just kept coming._

_He pulled her to one of the elevators and slammed the gate shut. People were running in mass panic, trying to find the safest way out. Her eyes jutted among the crowd, hoping she'd see a familiar face. Hoping she could help save someone from whatever it was that was happening._

_After Arthur died, Harry had brought them to the Ministry hoping that they'd be safe there. He hadn't known that they were running tests on the virus and when one of the test patients left the quarantine area, hell broke loose. _

_It took less than thirty minutes for the patient to infect others and within the hour, they had found where Harry had hid them._

_George was able to get Ginny and Mrs. Weasley out, but Percy hadn't been so lucky and was bit. Hermione didn't know how to react and didn't have the sense to move._

_Ron barely had enough time to drag her out of there, losing sight of the rest of his family in the process. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We need to go."_

_"We can't just leave them!" She cried._

_"There's nothing we can do about it, Hermione!" _

_"We can wait here until we see them."_

_"Do you honestly believe they're still alive? Look what happened to Percy! We have to go now, I'm not going to risk losing you, too." He said anxiously. "We'll get to the lobby and send a patronus to Harry and George telling them where we'll be if it'll make you feel better, but we're leaving now." _

_She had no choice but to let him do it. Ron sent the elevator down and when they got to the lobby, there were panicked looking people all around. There was a sigh of relief released next to her. "It looks like they haven't made their way down here, yet."_

_Ron slid open the door, pulled her out and proceeded to lead her to the Apparition point. "I can't Apparate right now."_

_She couldn't even think straight, much less deal with her magic properly. "Have your wand out, then. You'll just have to side along with me." _

_She fumbled for her wand and held it tightly in her shaking hand. Ron linked his arm with her free arm and then there was a sudden pulling sensation. Just as the pulling started, the crushing, confining feeling that went along with Apparition took effect. Hermione was going to be sick. _

_Before she had a chance to make due on that promise, the feeling relaxed and then went away completely. She looked around, but she didn't know where they were at. Ron was already sending his patronus to find his remaining family members, including Harry to let them know that they survived and where they could find them. _

_"Hermione, listen to me." He said once he was finished. Hermione turned toward him, trying to focus. "I was able to grab one of those emergency bags you prepared. We need to set up wards now and set up camp for the night. If anyone survived, they'll be on their way." _

_"Wards. Camp. On their way. Got it." She mumbled, distractedly. He released a frustrated growl._

_"Hermione, snap out of it!" He whispered, shaking her by her shoulders. "We can't afford for you to freeze or lock up like this. We need you at your top game. I need you." _

_There was a loud popping sound coming from behind Ron's head, causing both of their attention to snap to the wizard looking around frantically. Hermione practically ran into his arms. "Oh my god, Harry. I was so worried."_

_Harry wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Did anyone else make it out?"_

_"Last I remember seeing is George getting Ginny and mum out of the room. I have no idea if they made it… I sent them the same message I sent you, though. If they don't come, we have to assume the worst." Ron said from behind them. Harry let go of her and walked over to Ron. _

_Harry had been dating Ginny since right after the war ended. She could tell that he was worried about the fate of his girlfriend, but he pushed that all aside because he knew that his friend must be feeling it worse. He pulled Ron into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, mate."_

_"I'm sorry, too." Ron said, returning the hug. _

_When the hug was over, there was a large silence looming over them. Ron suggested they get to work on the wards and the three of them set up camp, sharing little to no words in the process._

_Hermione was busy fixing up the tent when another pop of Apparition sounded through the area. Her head snapped up. _

_She could hear Harry and Ron stop doing what they were doing to listen. "Ron?"_

_She could have almost cried when she heard Ginny's voice. "Gin!"_

_When Hermione made her way out of the tent, she saw Ginny get swept up by Harry. Ron was standing still, not sure how to think of the situation. Neither of them had noticed the tears in her eyes. _

_"How did you get out?" Ron finally spoke. "Where's George and mum?"_

_Ginny choked on a sob that came tumbling out of her mouth. Harry let her down and put his hands on her shoulders. "What happened?"_

_"We were leaving the Ministry already, but George told me to take mum somewhere safe." She whispered, only loud enough for Hermione to make out what she was saying. "He wanted to go back in to find the rest of our group, I guess. He went in before either of us could convince him otherwise… I have no idea… I shouldn't have let him go in…._

_And then mum. She was so heartbroken over Percy, still and seeing George go back into the mess… She wasn't paying attention and I was too slow… I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. George told me to keep her safe and I-" Ginny started crying, pulling herself away from Harry's reach. Ron stepped forward and enveloped her in a tight hug. _

_"Ginny…. None of this is your fault." He didn't sound sad, he sounded tired. Hermione's own heart was breaking. They had already lost so much during the war and even during the beginning stages of the virus, it wasn't fair that they were stuck mourning the loss of even more family members._

_Harry walked over to where Hermione was standing, passed by her and walked straight into the tent. She followed his lead, leaving the two siblings to mourn in peace. "This shouldn't be happening."_

_She agreed. None of this should be happening, yet it was. "What are we going to do?"_

_He sat on one of the beds she had set up. "We're going to have to survive, I guess. We'll go and scavange for food tomorrow. We'll get what we can find and then we decide where we're going to stay."_

_"And then after that?" Hermione pressed on._

_"I don't know."_

_She didn't know either and it really bothered her. There was no one enemy here, no one to defeat and definitely no way to stop this from going on. They weren't even sure what was really happening. _

_Ginny and Ron entered the tent. There were tears still sliding down their faces, more so on Ginny's. They offered no explanation and Harry nor Hermione pushed it. _

_Harry got up and gave his seat to Ginny, putting a hand on her shoulder. She offered a small smile, but it fell flat. Ron coughed and wiped his tears away. He cleared his throat before saying, "There's still a chance that George is alive. He might have gone to write Charlie and Bill or something."_

_They all knew they didn't believe it. Once George went back into the Ministry, he was a lost cause. All they could do is hope that Bill and Fluer were safe in France and Charlie safe in Romania. _

_"Yeah, let's hope."_

* * *

Hermione woke up with a start. She knew immediately from the pain in her back that she had fallen asleep sitting up against the wall of Draco's cell. Her eyes darted to his sleeping form.

She had absolutely no idea what the time was, but it had to have been close to midnight. The cell block was unusually quiet, meaning that either the others were asleep or they were in another part of the prison. This wasn't unusual for them. They always found another place to be. She supposed it was for the best, since she didn't know how much longer each of them could last if they were suffocating each other.

As quietly as she could, she left the cell and Draco behind. The only cell that wasn't empty was the Zabini's cell where she could see Pansy's hair peaking out from under the blanket.

She left the cell block, pulling out her wand just in case she needed to use it. Call it a habit.

Hermione finally heard noises when she approached the second level. They had managed to clear out the offices there and had made one of them into their meeting room. She didn't bother knocking before she walked in. "What are you all doing awake?"

Harry was the only one to turn to her. "Welcome to land of the living, Sleeping Beauty."

"Funny." She muttered. She made her way over to where they were sitting and sat down next to Ron.

"I didn't know that you and Malfoy were that close." Blaise said.

"We really aren't. I don't know." Hermione wasn't sure how she felt about them knowing that she slept in Draco's cell. It had been entirely innocent, but still. "We were talking and I guess I fell asleep."

"Well, we're glad you could get some sleep. It's a hard thing to manage nowadays." Ron sighed.

"Nightmares?" They had been getting to her. She had lived horrors every day, she didn't need to be reminded of them in her sleep as well.

Ron only nodded. It would be a miracle if anyone of them slept through the night or had anything other than bad dreams. Really, she should call them memories since dreams would mean that what had played out in her head every night didn't actually happen.

It would mean that she'd still have a family and so would Ron. It would mean that they didn't lose Ginny before they were able to come here. It would mean that none of this would have ever happened and she'd be living her semi-normal life.

Quickly shaking the thoughts out of her head, she focused her attention on something else. "What are you all doing down here?"

"Planning." Harry said. "We're gonna go and get more supplies. We were going to wait until Malfoy woke up to discuss the whole thing since he'll probably be one of the ones going."

"When do you plan on going?"

"Tomorrow hopefully." Blaise spoke up. "We're running low on food and it couldn't hurt if we could find other type of supplies."

"Do we have enough ammunition for those guns you brought? I don't want you all going out with just your wands."

"Yes, we have more than enough, but we'll definitely be taking more than just our wands." Hermione was a little more than relieved. "Ron is gonna sit out for this one and will stay with you, Pansy and Oliver."

"You all will need your rest then, I don't want any of you getting hurt because you were too tired to move." Hermione got up from her seat, waiting for the rest of them to follow. When they didn't move, she narrowed her eyes. "I'm being completely serious right now. Get your asses up and go to sleep."

There was mild groaning, but everyone did as she said. She sat back down, now alone in the little room.

She knew that tomorrow would be a long day for all of them. Pansy would be worrying about her husband, Hermione would be worrying about everyone else and Ron would probably be preoccupying his and Oliver's time with training.

Which still didn't sit right with her. As soon as Oliver knew how to defend himself, there would be no excuse other than her discomfort as to why he couldn't go with them on their supply run. "Don't think to hard, Granger. You might pop a vessel."

She jumped, focusing a glare at Malfoy. "Don't sneak up on me."

Draco sat across from her with a tired grin. "Don't make it so easy."

"Bugger off."

"But I just got here." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I bumped into the others. Having private meetings without me?"

"Hardly. You're going on a run tomorrow, though." She said, sighing. "Or today."

"How exciting." He grumbled. She had a feeling that he hated going on runs just as much as she did. "Who else is going?"

"Zabini… Blaise, I mean. And Harry."

"Weasley's staying behind?" He asked.

"Saftey procautions, I guess. I think it's because he doesn't want to go, though." Hermione didn't blame him in the slightest. She was actually surprised at how each of them was coping.

"I doubt any of us want to go."

"Well, it needs to be done. He'll have his turn soon, anyway." She looked at Draco. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a mess, partially because he just woke up and then the other fact that it's been a while since any of them had a proper bath. He was looking paler than usual and thinner, though every one of them were losing insane amounts of weight.

"Can't keep your eyes off of me, Granger?" He was smirking now, causing her cheeks to flush red.

"I… I wasn't." She said, covering her face with her hands. "I mean, I was, but it's because you look unhealthy."

"Thanks."

"No!" She withdrew her hands. "That's not what I meant!"

He was still smirking, though if she were being completely honest, it had simmered down to an almost genuine smile. "I know what you meant, but I mean I'm pretty healthy considering the circumstances."

Her face was turning an even deeper shade of red. She didn't know how it was possible if she was being completely honest. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"I usually am." Hermione glanced back up at him, the smile still on his face. She didn't know how long it had been since she had seen anyone manage to truly smile.

"Sure you are." She said.

"I am. You'll see soon enough." Draco said.

"Did you get enough rest?"

"Enough not to die at the hands of the undead." He exhaled a long breath. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" She was genuinely confused as to what Draco had to be sorry about.

"I know how much we've all lost and yet, I still make comments like that."

Hermione almost let out apitious laugh, but she caught herself. "You shouldn't be sorry about that. It's not your fault that we've gotten used to the loss and just accepted the fact that this is the new normal."

"I don't think we've gotten used to the loss. If I lost Pansy or Blaise, I wouldn't accept it or push it aside because I got used to this pain already." He bit out.

"Sorry, that's not really what I meant." Hermione quickly muttered. "I meant that we'd have to accept it. What else could we possibly do about it?"

"I don't know."

"Neither do I." She sighed. That was exactly the problem. None of them knew what to do in the slightest.

"I don't think I would be okay with losing any of you lot, either." She didn't expect this to come from him. Sure, they had gotten closer, but were they close enough?

Of course they were. They've known each other for years. She wouldn't be okay with losing either of them. "I wouldn't either. I'm done with losing people."

"Which is why you didn't want Oliver to start training?"

"I don't want to fight about this with you, Malfoy." Hermione said, exasperated.

"I'm not picking a fight, Granger. It's a simple question."

"Like I said before, I don't think a child should be thrust in that world." She waved her hand. "I know that he doesn't have much of a choice, but we could have delayed it until he was a bit older."

"We don't even know if we have enough time for that."

"I'm aware of that."

"Good." He said. Hermione looked at him questioningly. "We don't need false hopes. We need to prepare ourselves for the worst."

Her shoulders slumped. "I was thinking about what you asked me the other day."

"What are you talking about?" Now it was his turn to look at her, confusion etching it's way through his features.

"When you asked me about the cure."

He groaned. He had forgotten about that day for a reason. Draco really didn't need a reminder about the revelations he uncovered that day. "What about it?"

"I think someone is working on it somewhere. I doubt that everyone would just sit down and accept the situation."

"Well, you have and you're pretty much the smartest person I know."

Hermione frowned. "I'm not sure that was a compliment."

"It was a fact."

"Look, I'm not just sitting down and accepting the situation by will. I have no choice." She got up from her seat and started pacing back and forth. "If I had a lab, maybe I'd be able to figure out what might have started it. I mean, I'm not saying I'm smarter than scientists, but it has to be something."

"Granger, calm down. You're getting ahead of yourself." Draco got up and walked towards her. He took one of her hands to get her to stop pacing. "Even if you were able to find a lab with everything working, there's no chance in hell that you'd be able to even skim the surface on what's happening."

"But that's the thing, Draco. Maybe I could."

"You're talking crazy." He said.

Hermione pulled her hand out of his and placed it on his shoulder. "I'm not. Think about it, Malfoy. It's affected millions of people. Magical, alike. The properties of what's going on has to be magical."

"Or else magic would have been able to cure us…" He said quietly.

"Now you're getting it."

Draco shook his head. "But, it could also be something else."

"What else could it be?"

"The virus is killing it's host's body. What if magic can't cure us because we're already essentially dead?"

Hermione frowned again and moved her hand off of Draco's shoulder. She brightened up again. "It could still be magic."

"And what makes you say that."

"What else could keep a person animated while they're technically dead?"

Draco paled. "Inferius."

"Exactly!" Hermione started pacing again. Draco couldn't move from his spot. "We know it's not the Inferius Curse because this is effecting both muggles and wizards and it's spreading quickly. We also know that once you've been bitten or scratched, you turn into one yourself.

But if someone was able to figure out how to cause the same effects with a potion rather than with a curse…"

"You're trying to say that this is because some idiot tried to make a curse into a potion? Why would anyone do that?"

"I don't know if that's really what happened, but it's a possibility. It could have spread by accident or not. I don't know, but it's something."

Draco needed to sit down. He found a chair and slumped down into it. "This is insane."

"I haven't told anyone else about this theory." Hermione said quietly, sitting down next to him.

"Why?"

"Because they'd all either think I'm crazy or they'd have hope in something that might just be a dead end." She sighed. "I mean, even if I could get my hands on a lab, I wouldn't even know where to start. Like you said, how could I even begin to skim the surface?"

"I said that before I heard your insane theory."

"I don't think it's insane." Hermione muttered.

"Oh, it is, but it's genius all the same."

Hermione leaned back into her chair. "What can we even do about it, stuck here?"

"We'll figure something out."

"We'll?"

"Well, you did drag me into this. I'm part of it now." He smiled weakly. He had no idea what mess he was about to get himself into.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I know that it's crazy and it might not even work. It might even get us hurt. There's no guarantee this will be safe."

"Hermione, will you please calm down?" Draco said, wanting her to stop talking. He didn't need reasons as to why he was an idiot for agreeing to this. "If I didn't want to help you, I wouldn't. Besides, it was getting extremely boring here. Something new that could kill us should liven things up a bit."

She let out a soft, shaky laugh. "Then I guess we're doing this."

"Figures you would be the one to save the world again." Draco hadn't exactly meant to say that out loud.

"I didn't save it the first time, Harry did and I definitely have no expectations in really saving it this time. Plus, this time you'll be by my side."

Something warm settled in the pit of Draco's stomach and his chest tightened. "Yeah, I'll be by your side."

* * *

He awoke with a start. He didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep again.

Draco's dreams this time had been completely different. This time they were actually dreams. As in, not a memory or horrific nightmare.

The noises around him reminded him of what he had to do today. He looked to his side to see that either Hermione had woken up already or had left once he had fallen asleep. He didn't even have the energy to feel ashamed.

Draco got up and walked out of the room. He saw Potter walking straight toward him. "Great you're awake. Hermione made something of a breakfast. You should eat."

Draco was still a little disoriented from having just woke up so all he did was nod.

He followed the noise and found everyone was already awake and packing bags just with ammunition and food. Hermione looked up at him. "Oh good, you're up. Come eat."

She set down a bag that she was working on and handed him a tray with some eggs and a single slice of toast. "How did we get this?"

"Well we still had some bread that we preserved with magic and then we found some cans of powdered eggs."

"What in Merlin's name is a powdered egg?" Draco looked at the tray with a sour look on his face.

"It's food and it tastes decently. Just don't put so much thought into it and eat." She left him to it and walked around the table to help Blaise take inventory.

Draco took a bite of his food and scowled. The eggs were disgusting and the toast was a bit on the stale side. Merlin, he would honestly kill for a decent meal.

The scowl didn't fall of his face until he took the last bite. "Is there any water?"

Hermione came back and placed a bottle in front of him. "Try not to drink it all in one gulp."

He tried. He didn't succeed. "Oops."

"What else did I expect from you?"

"No clue." Draco got up. "Which bag is mine?"

"The one that's right in front of you. I put a charm on it so you could fit in everything you might need. Or anything you deem useful… just in case." Of course he knew exactly what she meant.

"We'll see what I find."

She gave him a grateful smile and Draco realized that he really didn't have a chance.

* * *

The town they found themselves in was actually a small wizarding community. There were a few shops in which they took whatever clothes, medicine and supplies they could find.

Unsurprisingly, they didn't find much. It seemed that even the undead had decided to leave for bigger and better things.

"Malfoy, we found a grocery store. We're going to see if we can salvage anything. Come on." Potter said, pulling him out of the potions supply shop.

Draco let himself be pulled out and followed Potter to the small grocery store. The place was dark and there was a distant sound of a can falling to the ground.

"Sorry, that was me." Blaise said, coming to the front where he and Potter stood. He was stuffing some cans into his bag. "There really isn't much left and what is left is really disgusting canned vegetables. Better than nothing, though."

"I'm going to go look in the back of store to see if we can find anything useful." Draco said, walking away from the other two.

He knew that separating from the group wasn't the best idea. He had already done it once before, though and the place seemed pretty abandoned. There really was no harm done.

As he passed down an aisle, he picked up anything he thought could be salvageable. It still wasn't much, but it would be enough for the seven of them.

The back of the store didn't have much of anything left either. A few boxes of who knows what and cans of chicken broth.

They'd be able to make a decent soup or something if they were lucky.

A groan sounded from behind him. Draco pulled out his wand and aimed it to where the noise was coming from, but he couldn't see anything.

The groaning got louder. "This can't be good."

He picked up his bag from the floor where he had been grabbing the cans and ran in the direction of where Blaise was hunched over putting bottles of wine into his bag. "Draco, did you find anything?"

"I heard them."

"Heard them?" Blaise continued to put bottle after bottle away.

"Well, more like one. A zombie."

This seemed to stop Blaise. He quickly zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I could hear its groaning. I just couldn't see where it was coming from."

"We have to find Potter."

They found Potter rather quickly. He was trying to move a shelf away from the storage entrance. "Potter, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to check if there's any food back there, but it's proving to be difficult."

Draco had to fight from rolling his eyes. "You're a wizard. I'm pretty sure that you can use magic to move it."

Blaise groaned. "Look, we came to find you because Draco heard a zombie. We don't know exactly where it is, so really it'd be better if we hurried up here and went back home."

"Dear Merlin, please don't call Azkaban our home." Draco said.

"As soon as we check in the storage space, we'll go back. I just want to make sure that we're not missing out on something that could save us in the long run." Harry took out his wand and with a quick swish and flick, the shelf was lifted out of the way.

The door creaked open and that's when the groan sounded again, louder this time. All three of their wands were out and Draco couldn't help but put his free hand on his gun.

Harry pulled the door so they could see further in. So far there was still nothing in sight.

They each walked in, ready to kill anything that came in their way. When nothing happened, they all relaxed a little. Draco took his hand off his gun, but his wand was still at the ready.

The first few shelves had been picked dry, but the last one had a small box shoved to the corner. They didn't bother opening it before shrinking it down to fit in their bags.

Draco could see Potter walk over to the little office toward the back of the store. He followed him, just in case whatever was groaning earlier was actually still in there.

The door wasn't even locked and when Harry opened the door, something quick came rushing at him. Draco barely had enough time to cast a body bind spell.

The zombie dropped to the ground right next to Potter's feet. He stepped closer as Harry stepped away. "He must have been the reason why they barricaded the door."

"Should we kill him now or do you want to wait until next year?" Draco said impatiently. "What the hell were you even thinking?"

"I was thinking that there could have been something we could use in there." Harry shot back. "I didn't think there would be a bloody zombie in there?"

"You heard the moans yourself. You're not an idiot. Obviously if we hadn't been able to see him before, it could have meant that he'd been behind the only closed door."

"Will you two stop fighting already?" Blaise said, coming up to the frozen zombie and sticking his knife right through its temple. "Potter, if you're going to look in there, do it now. We're leaving in the next two minutes, regardless."

Harry only nodded and walked into the room. When he came back out, he was zipping up his backpack. "First aid kit, an extra gun, some batteries, a radio and this…"

Potter pulled out a small leather bound book. Draco rolled his eyes. "Why is that important?"

"Because whoever that was in there had written down exactly was happening to him as he transformed."

Draco had a sneaking suspicion that Hermione wouldn't let that book out of her sight the moment she lay her hands on it… and of course it had been Potter who found it.

Perfect.

* * *

A/N: You must absolutely hate me. I am so, so sorry. I'm not even gonna make up an excuse. It was laziness and writer's block. I hope now that I was able to finally finish this chapter, I'll be able to continue writing it faster. Anyway, thank you so much for putting up with me. I love you all so much.

Please, review, favorite and follow! It'd really mean a lot to me and it'd give me a great idea of what I need to work on. I love hearing from you all. Thank you again!


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